A Sea Of Red

Paging Cider Jim ...

Since we are visiting Central Virginia at the heart of cider season I was curious to hear which of the local orchards is recommended. Here are the ones I located online:

Appleseed Country - Johnson's Orchards
Near Peaks of Otter and Bedford


Crump's Little Orchard
Near Amherst


Morris Orchard
Near Monroe


Rock Hill Orchard
Near Monroe & Elon

i drove by the one in bedford, don't know about the others. its about 30 minutes from the school i think, maybe a little more

I've never been, but I've heard very good things about Johnson's Farm near the Peaks of Otter. I did go to one orchard in Nelson County last year (can't remember the name), and it was located directly behind (or very close to) Nelson County High School: they actually had a festival going on, and it was wonderful--I brought home a half gallon jug of sweet cider, heard some nice bluegrass music, and even went on an old fashioned hayride while I was there.

go to the johnsons farm. its a nice drive up there and you can hit the orchard and the parkway in the same trip. its a good way to spend several hours

I saw a number of orchards in Nelson County including the one CJ mentioned and another by Walton's Mountain. We may wind up heading up to see Monticello and then those would come into play.

Johnson's didn't mention any demonstrations like some of the others I listed. But the location sounds very similar to the one I used to head to while I was in school.

My kids have never tasted fresh cider and I haven't had any since my parent moved to Texas a decade ago.

Sly Fox wrote:fresh cider

I had some for breakfast this mornin'.

Cider Jim wrote:

Sly Fox wrote:HARD cider

I had some for breakfast this mornin'.

Way to start the morning Cider Jim.........a good day indeed.

There's an AJ Gross and Sons Orchard in Bedford County, it's about 5 minutes from the parkway. I don't know how to give directions for it though.

flamesbball84 wrote:There's an AJ Gross and Sons Orchard in Bedford County, it's about 5 minutes from the parkway. I don't know how to give directions for it though.

Gross' Orchard is my favorite. My family used to go see them once a week. the SWEETEST people ever. They gave me this old school "GROSS ORCHARD" trucker hat for my 21st birthday. Mr. Gross' wife died a couple years ago, but he has since remarried. They have these little individual homemade apple pies...AMAZING. you should definitely check it out.

justagirl wrote:

flamesbball84 wrote:There's an AJ Gross and Sons Orchard in Bedford County, it's about 5 minutes from the parkway. I don't know how to give directions for it though.

Gross' Orchard is my favorite. My family used to go see them once a week. the SWEETEST people ever. They gave me this old school "GROSS ORCHARD" trucker hat for my 21st birthday. Mr. Gross' wife died a couple years ago, but he has since remarried. They have these little individual homemade apple pies...AMAZING. you should definitely check it out.

http://local.yahoo.com/info-12925742-aj ... ns-bedford
Theres the address and phone number for it if you want to get directions to it. THey also grow peaches in addition to apples.

For the record, we wound up visiting both Johnson's and Gross' orchards since they are only about 5 minutes apart.

Johnson's had the best mountain views and a cool 15-foot-tall statue of Johnny Appleseed. But they were out of cider which left me very frustrated. They did have a '33 Chevy, an old Triumph Spitfire and and an antique tractor in a building just off the garage.

Gross' Orchard will be getting our business on future trips. Great call, justagirl. They had a much better store and plenty of cider. I took home a gallon of Apple Cider and another gallon of Cherry Apple Cider (jealous yet, CJ?) that were $5.99 apiece. The Gross family offered my wife & kids samples of a couple of different varieties of apples and we took home some giant apples that my kids thought were "super cool".

An apple orchard that's out of cider... sounds like a quality operation.

Yeah, they don't pasteurize any cider so you have to get it in a raw state. Apparently when I was there on a Tuesday they said they hadn't made any since Friday and the last half gallon was sold as I was walking in.

Gross' had both raw and pasteurized. I have a nice mug of the latter last night here in Houston. I think more might be on tap this afternoon during the game.

slyfox,

Thanks for supporting my family's orchard - AJ Gross and Sons Orchard. The orchard, up until the past few months, was owned and operated by my grandfather and his brother. They recently sold it to the son of my grandfather's brother since they are getting old and probably won't be able to go at the job for much longer; however, they still run the operation, just under new ownership.

They have always been good with the kids, so I find it no surprise that the kids seemed to like it. They also have a apple harvest festival thing in the fall that always seems to be well received.

They have a nice setup. We'll back on our next trip and I'll go early enough in our stay that I can polish off some raw cider.

Sly Fox wrote:I took home a gallon of Apple Cider and another gallon of Cherry Apple Cider (jealous yet, CJ?)

Sly, you are making my mouth water! Thank goodness I've got some sweet cider in the fridge. Wondering if this orchard is open on Sundays or if they make housecalls.

Cider Jim wrote:

Sly Fox wrote:I took home a gallon of Apple Cider and another gallon of Cherry Apple Cider (jealous yet, CJ?)

Sly, you are making my mouth water! Thank goodness I've got some sweet cider in the fridge. Wondering if this orchard is open on Sundays or if they make housecalls.

no and no - they are old school country folk, so never open on Sundays.

Will they be open on Election Day? I have the day off, except for voting.

Cider Jim wrote:Will they be open on Election Day? I have the day off, except for voting.

I've never known them to close on Election Day, of course I've never asked either.